1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pipe structure of an air conditioner, and more particularly, to a pipe structure of an air conditioner that can reduce vibration from an absorption/discharging pipe of a compressor, and from a plurality of connection pipes, which are neighboring pipes around the compressor, among elements of an outdoor unit. Also, the present invention relates to a pipe structure of an air conditioner that can maintain, in a more compact form, a structure of a machinery room where the compressor is located.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an air conditioner is an apparatus for controlling temperature and/or humidity of a system desired by a user, by circulating, inside the system, a cooling air generated through compression, condensation, expansion, and evaporation of refrigerant.
Such an air conditioner includes an indoor unit positioned in an indoor and an outdoor unit positioned in an outdoor, for emitting undesired heat or a cooling air. In the meantime, to the inside of the outdoor unit, an outdoor heat exchanger for exchanging heat, an outdoor fan for generating forced wind tunnel, and a compressor for forcibly flowing a refrigerant inside a cooling cycle, are generally provided. Since generating a noise during its operation, the compressor is generally positioned in the outdoor unit so that noise environment in the indoor may be improved.
However, recently, as the space of the indoor environment gets narrow, the indoor space gets close to the installation position of the outdoor unit and noise from the outdoor unit is frequently transferred to the indoor space. Under such an environment, an effort to reduce the noise occurring during operation of the outdoor unit is being made. Particularly, in case the outdoor unit and the indoor unit are positioned inside the same apparatus such as a window-type air conditioner, the problem related to the noise is caused more seriously.
In the meantime, the noise from the outdoor unit is roughly divided into a noise occurring during operation of the outdoor fan and a noise occurring during operation of the compressor. The present invention is mainly directed to improve the noise occurring during operation of the compressor. Generally, the noise occurring at the compressor is transferred through a pipe. More specifically, vibration occurring at the compressor is transferred through the absorption and the discharging pipes connected to the compressor and a plurality of connection pipes formed inside the machinery room, and amplified by mutual interference, and changed into big vibration and noise in case vibration reaches resonance.
According to the related art, a plurality of pipes formed in the machinery room where the compressor is located, is generally formed long to reduce vibration from the compressor. Also, in order for the long pipes to be formed inside the machinery room, a plurality of pipes are mutually twisted in a three-dimensional structure. Therefore, it is frequent that the mutually connected pipes are mutually amplified in their vibration and that resonance is generated in the whole pipe due to mutual three-dimensional influence given and taken between them, which have been problematic. If resonance is generated in the pipe, trembling is generated in the whole pipe, which becomes a factor for generating a noise in the whole machinery room.
Also, if the pipes are twisted disorderly, the structure of the machinery room becomes complicated and the space of the machinery room cannot be used efficiently.